Reflections on an old Honda, 6 kids and a sack of spuds

It was July and I was about 12 years old. It was time for the family reunion. My mom LOVES reunions. Nothing makes her happier than being in a 24 hr/day social situation. This reunion was always our version of a vacation every other summer. Head up to Idaho, spend a couple of days with a lot of people who are 2nd and 3rd cousins and head back home. This year was special. It was the year of the Honda Civic Hatchback. Imagine this car brown...

Now, I have 9 siblings. That makes for a family of 12; 7 brothers, 2 sisters, me, a Mom and a Dad. (That right there was an example of my brilliant teaching method in math) My Dad doesn't do trips so he stayed home. My older brothers were working so they stayed home. Now, take another look at that picture because into this car piled my Mom and 16 yr. old sister Karen. They got the front due to driving ability and age. Into the back-through the hatchback of course-piled the rest of us; me, Paul-10, Rachel-8, Matt-6 and Chris-4. Plus all of our clothes, pillows, sleeping bags, food and toys. I am not kidding. We packed our clothes in Hefty garbage bags so we could lay on them. I remember the traveling part of this trip soooo well.

We drove from SLC, UT to somewhere North of Idaho Falls, ID. I distinctly remember how we were laying on the soft garbage bags, pillows and sleeping bags and everytime a curve would come up in the road we would try to get on the same side of it in the car so we could roll with it. What fond memories-it makes me feel so sad for my children who will never have that experience of rolling around in a car while speeding down a highway... Hmmm! I think there might have been a few safety issues here! Nah!
Anyways, I remember my mom stopping at a grocery store to pick up a loaf of bread and jar of peanut butter for our lunch. She opened up the hatchback and out came tumbling not 1, 2, 3 or 4 kids, but 5 kids. I can still see the lady's expression who saw us tumbling out of that car in the grocery store parking lot. Her jaw opened so hard her chin seemed to be touching the pavement. I believe she was aghast! (the definition of aghast: struck with overwhelming shock or amazement; filled with sudden fright or horror. )( Prime example of vocabulary being taught-I tell you-I'm here for your furthering education)
We thought it was soooo great. I mean we were going on our family reunion vacation.

I don't remember one thing about that reunion once we arrived BUT...
when we were ready to head back home a thoughtful potato farming cousin sent us home with a 100 lb. bag of Idaho Spuds.
They ended up in the front seat on the floor under my sisters feet. Nice!
I don't think that Honda was ever the same again. I also believe that we are the reason seatbelt laws are now on the books. I'm really not kidding-7 people jammed into a tiny, tiny brown Honda Civic. Memories!